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Monday, 27 January 2014

Kinglake

Today was the last day of my summer holidays - its a public holiday for Australia Day. The 26th is the actual day, but because that was a sunday, we get monday off. Back to the desk tomorrow!

Just a short walk through some forest that was badly burnt in the Black Saturday bush fires of 2009.

There are many signs of regeneration in the forest - I hope the people of the area are doing as well.

In this picture you can see that some of the mature trees survived the fire, but many are now just dead stags heads. These will become important wild life sites over time. You can also see the huge numbers of young trees in the fore ground - these forests have evolved with fire, but it remains questionable that they will be able to survive the increased fire frequencies that come with human activity and / or climate change.

Its still very dry here, and the next few days are back into the extreme heat level. This whole area could burn again, which is not a happy thought.

As we were driving home I noticed this paddock dotted with hay bales - I rather liked the look of them, so here are two images.

Both of these landscape shots look much better bigger - and you can see bigger versions if you click on the image.

It always amazes me to see how the countryside bounces back after fires or other devastation. (We've visited Mt St Helens after the volcano and Yellowstone and other forested areas and farmland like you show in the year or two after fires). But as you say, it is the people who you worry about -- some lost everything I'm sure. Drought is a terrible thing.

Nature is resilient, but time will tell how much she can take of man's meddling. Truth is, she will wait for us to do ourselves in, then come back full throttle. I am sorry you are having so many wild fires, as are we. My heart breaks for those who get caught in the path, both human and wildlife. I keep hoping I will live to see our governments be controlled by people who are interested in the best for the people rather than the greed for self.

Your hay bales may be the first thing you have posted that looked like home to me. Being in the Midwest we have many fields like that and I have many pictures of them, as I think they are interesting too. I posted on Our World Tuesday and didn't see your link ... could you have forgotten? Great post anyway, Stewart. See you tomorrow :)

Andrea @ From The SolP.S. Too bad you have to go back to the office tomorrow ... I don't have that problem. You should try retirement:)

Nice shots! Here in Norway they use to cover the bales in white plastic, so they can be laid in rows and kept outside through both rainy autumns and snowy winters. When I drive by, they look like big eggs thrown around in the fields!

Your new growth shows Nature doing its job. When the fires come, you think it will never be the same. Then all of a sudden the green begins to pop through. You have to love those fields filled with hay bales. I think they are so beautiful...but I surely would not want to be the one of the tractor cutting and baling. I am SO allergic to it as it is being cut.